Virtual currencies market will be worth $1 trillion this year — top exchange CEO

The crypto market will continue to see an “acceleration” of growth, founder and CEO of the exchange Jesse Powell told CNBC.

“You’ve got a lot more kids graduating from crypto programs at universities now. I think we’re just going to see it continue exponentially from here,” Powell said.

Powell’s Kraken is currently ranked 8th by trading volume on cryptocurrency website CoinMarketCap, trading at around $300 million over a 24-hour period.

The market value of all the world’s virtual currencies currently stands at around $432 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. It managed to reach an all-time high of nearly $800 billion at the beginning of the year before a massive sell-off that dragged digital currencies down. Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency, lost about two-thirds of its value at the time.

According to some conventional traders, digital investing lacks intrinsic value with its current course looking like a bubble. Financial watchdogs across the globe have recently issued warnings to the public about potential risks connected to crypto trading. Moreover, regulators in India, South Korea and China have recently upped their rhetoric against digital currencies.